\chapter*{Preface and acknowledgments}

  
\brahms is a molecular dynamics program specifically designed for the 
simulation of lipid and water systems modeled with the ELBA coarse-grain
force field.~\cite{orsi11elba}
\brahms is mainly based at the University of Southampton (Southampton, UK). Ongoing collaborative work is also taking place 
at the ``Politecnico di Torino'' university (Turin, Italy). Funding for \brahms has so far been received by:
\begin{itemize}
\item UK taxpayers, through government science-funding agencies (BBSRC, EPSRC);
\item private companies: Johnson \& Johnson, Unilever.
\end{itemize}
The main author of \brahms is Mario Orsi ({\tt www.personal.soton.ac.uk/orsi}). The \brahms project has been constantly  
supported by Prof. Jonathan W. Essex.
Many crucial components of {\sc brahms}, such as the main data structures, the cell-subdivision/neighbor-list algorithm, 
and several useful macro definitions, have been developed following the excellent book ``The Art of Molecular Dynamics Simulation'' 
by D.C. Rapaport.~\cite{rapa} 
The efficiency of {\sc brahms} has been optimized thanks to the advanced molecular dynamics integration scheme invented by Dullweber et al.~\cite{dullw97a}
The ``official'' \brahms website is {\tt www.personal.soton.ac.uk/orsi/brahms}.\medskip
\\\brahms has been used to carry out research described in a number of publications;~\cite{orsi11elba,mario08,marioSmall,marioDmpcDopc,marioDH,marioTriclos} please cite these papers if you use or reference {\sc brahms}.
\medskip
\\\brahms is free software - ``free'' as in ``freedom'' (although \brahms is also offered at no charge). More information on the free software movement can be found at {\tt http://www.fsf.org} and {\tt http://www.fsfe.org}.  In general, free software is used extensively in this project. The {\sc brahms} code is developed on computers running the GNU/Linux operating system and can be compiled with the GNU C compiler. Analysis code has been written in {\it Python}. The \brahms project employs the {\em Subversion} revision-control system. %will be hosted soon on the Savannah software forge ({\tt https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/brahms}). 
This manual is edited with {\it Emacs} and formatted using~\LaTeX. Diagrams are prepared with {\em Grace}. Images are edited with the {\em Gimp}.
\medskip
\\Your feedback on this manual is greatly valued. If you find mistakes/typos, have suggestions on how to improve/clarify any topic, or have any constructive criticism, please email Mario Orsi ({\tt orsi@soton.ac.uk}). 


